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January 26th, 2007

Mustard seed

right and wrong cartoon
[Click on the image and a great big large one will pop up in a miraculous fashion]

At the church homegroup I go to (yes, I go to a church homegroup) we read the parable of the mustard seed and some of the other pictures of the kingdom of God that Jesus talked about. Now, I don’t claim to entirely understand the parables, but it seems to me that the picture of the kingdom of God described by Jesus is like something that grows organically and in subtle ways, not by force or making demands or by insisting on our rights.

I think that in the UK the Church / Christianity is in danger of being seen as an entity / religion that is continually standing up for its rights and making demands. I think, for example, that the British Airways cross incident made us look particularly bad despite the fact we ‘won’.

That said, standing up for the rights of the oppressed is something we should indeed be doing.

The current ‘gay adoption’ issue is a difficult one I have to say. For those on the conservative side of things standing up for the right to hold their belief is the obvious thing to do. But even for those with more liberal views it is not straightforward – I think for instance that Kim on theconnexion.net states things well in this comment.

Personally I hope some sort of compromise can be reached. Perhaps this one being discussed on William Crawley’s Will and Testament blog. There is of course a lot more being written about this everywhere – Thinking Anglicans has some links.

This is the code to republish this cartoon on your blog. It’ll just be the small version, not the miraculous popping up version. I can provide cartoons, but miraculous popping up I cannot provide.

<img src="http://www.weblogcartoons.com/cb/mustard-seed.gif" alt="cartoon from www.weblogcartoons.com" />
<p>Cartoon by <a href="http://www.cartoonchurch.com/blog/">Dave Walker</a>. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at <a href="http://www.weblogcartoons.com/">We Blog Cartoons</a>.</p>

Have a good weekend everyone. If you’re in Manchester why not go along to this Johnny Cash service.

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14 Responses to “Mustard seed”


  1. Karin says:

    Conscience is a tricky thing, but if a person’s conscience tells them to discriminate against women or black people would we be so willing to find a compromise?

    If a person’s conscience results in them being prejudiced should we allow them to remain prejudiced or should we try to educate them to at least act without prejudice whatever they might think, and hopefully they will come to see the error of their thoughts and conscience over time?

    January 26th, 2007 at 2:20 pm
  2. Mary says:

    Personally I think its about time the church stood up for its rights, and am glad to see it.

    January 26th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
  3. dh says:

    How about the tiny mustard seeds trampled under foot due to non-Christians demanding their rights? However, I appreciate the balance within the post. I think sitting back and doing nothing makes the situation worse in that values that go against God get more and more promoted. It also seems that when Christians, in those few instances where standing up is done, people forget all of the periods of time where rights are being promoted for groups that go against what God advocates. However, Dave, people forget that more and more Christians are being oppressed. What do we do in those situations where Christians are oppressed? I say this with kindness not with any hostility. I appreciate the writing of the post but not the cartoon. I hope you can at least respect that.

    January 26th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
  4. dh says:

    I also think this issue goes beyond just Catholic or non-Cathlolic but any church that exemptions should be given to any church that doesn’t condone the gay lifestyle.

    January 26th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
  5. Karin says:

    Should the church be ‘standing up for their rights’ or standing up for the values Jesus preached such as love, care and acceptance?

    January 26th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
  6. jody says:

    Jesus didn’t stand up for his ‘rights’

    January 26th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
  7. dh says:

    Karin, but Jesus never condoned sin. In fact He rebuked sin. I think that in the same regard as standing up for ones rights. Also, He DID stand up for His rights, the right that the synogogue (His house, in fact Jesus called it such) not be used for a den of thieves. In fact He also said “go and sin no more”. Standing up for rights can be pursued against the gay lifestyle with an attitude of love, care and acceptance. I love, care and accept all people including gays or whatever people are doing that is sin. Acceptance and condoning are two different things. Many people want to combine these two into one term but in all reality they should be seperate.

    January 26th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
  8. dh says:

    Even Jesus used the term “You brood of vipers” if that isn’t “standing up for the rights” of those being hurt by the Pharisee’s I don’t know what is.

    January 26th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
  9. dh says:

    Being gay is not the same thing as being black or a woman. To say they are synomous is where I take issue.

    January 26th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
  10. Philip of Samaria says:

    OK should have read this before posting against ‘crossing the line’

    Why should we celebrate these dead men more than the dying?…
    ..These men and those who opposed them
    accept the constitution of silence
    and are folded in a single party

    TS Eliot, Little Gidding

    In the end there is no for or against but only discipleship. No rights, no position, only faith and obedience.

    January 26th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
  11. Karin says:

    dh says:

    Being gay is not the same thing as being black or a woman. To say they are synomous is where I take issue.

    Women are born female and were treated as inferior to men for centuries most of the time in most cultures simply due to an accident of birth.

    Black people have been enslaved, oppressed, rejected and discrimintated against simply because they were born with a different colour skin from ignorant white people (i.e. those who treated them thus were ignorant).

    Currently many people who were born homosexual are discriminated against in many ways, again because they were born different.

    How is discrimination against homosexual people different from the other kinds of discrimination?

    January 27th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
  12. jody says:

    Hi

    I think there is something different about campaigning for ‘my’ rights as opposed to campaigning for the rights of another.

    Jody

    January 28th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
  13. dh says:

    I agree in not discrminating against homosexuals but it is all a matter of the definition of discriminate in that there is a difference between inalliable rights vs. special privileges. It appears that those who think that homosexuals shouldn’t have certain special privileges that they are labeled discriiminatory. I believe this is unecessary. When it comes to physical and verbal abuse.

    I think the difference for me is that being a woman or being black are not sin. Where as being gay (acting upon that temptation) is a sin when the Bible mentions it directly. I still don’t see the similarities between race and sex in the same category as sexual orientation. It all boils down to how one definies discrimination and whether an action is actually disciminatory or not. I believe some things with regard to special privileges are not discriminatory. Whereas those who advocate homosexuality would say it is discriminatory.

    February 1st, 2007 at 8:02 pm
  14. Karin says:

    dh, sexual orientation is something people are born with just as sex and race are something you are born with/into. None of these things are chosen by people, it is the way they are born. The is the first similarity.

    Likewise, people have used the Bible to excuse enslaving black people and oppressing women and in the same way certain passages in the Bible are being used by some people to discriminate against gay and lesbian people, although many Christians do not agree that the Bible condemns loving, faithful, same sex partnerships, whatever else it may be saying. This is the second similarity.

    Are you suggesting that it is a privilege to have a life-long sexual relationship acknowledged by the state so that your partner can have the same rights as a married man or woman? What is it that most heterosexual people expect do you call ‘special privileges’? Do you think that they are special priviliges for heterosexual people, too?

    February 2nd, 2007 at 10:17 pm